The Fall and Rise Of The Akatsuki Empire
by Delta the Hedgehog
Summary: Itachi and Kisame are ordered to find two young shinobi in order to train them to join Akatsuki in the future. Two years later, the end of the Akatsuki seems near and Kaito Hayashi and Shizuma Himura become essiental to the rebuilding of Akatsuki's power.
1. Dilemma

Hey people. I decided to repost this story. This time I added the original chapter 2 into the first chapter so it can feel more complete. I also want to say a couple things I didn't say before.

This story takes place in a slight AU. I mean slight in the sense that some technologies that exist today will appear in the story. (Mp3s, computers, etc.) I won't get over the top with it as most of the aspects in the canon will still exist.

The main pairing will be OC x OC x OC further into the story. Their will be other pairings as well but I don't have them completely thought out yet. When I all have them all, I will let you know.

Also, I want to mention now that some characters will be a little OOC at times throughout the story for different reasons. This story will span over several years and a lot of things will happen so people will change a little bit. Don't fret however; the canon characters will keep the basic personalities unless mentioned otherwise.

Finally this story contains manga spoilers! Just for the people who haven't read it yet, why I don't know. Go read it! It's very good. Also, the rating will rise as the story goes along. The early chapters will probably be T while the later ones will be M for many reasons. You can probably guess why.

I think that's it. Now enjoy the story!

* * *

The Akatsuki were lying in wait. The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Naruto Uzumaki, had just left on a training trip with Jiraiya, the Toad Sage, a few days ago. The plan was to wait about two years before collecting the tailed beasts. Until then, the members of Akatsuki would just undertake regular missions such as assassinations to build up their reputation and do reconnaissance to help their future goals. 

However, something was on Pein's mind the past few days. Although he had some of the most powerful shinobi in the world in his organization, he knew that it was possible that he could suffer losses while collecting the tailed beasts. He knew it was unavoidable and that replacements might be necessary in the future. But to find recruits as valuable as his group of S-rank criminals he had now was as easy as finding a needle in a haystack.

Still, he couldn't leave this issue as is. If he ever lost any members and did not have any viable replacements, it would make it that much harder to capture the biju. So there was only one solution to this little dilemma...

"Konan, send in Itachi and Kisame." Pein said not even looking at Konan, who was leaning on the wall in Pein's office. She just nodded and walked out the office.

She looked the hideout and found Itachi staring out of window and Kisame sitting on the couch, apparently bored.

"Itachi, Kisame, Pein wants to see you two." Konan said. Itachi nodded and started to walk towards while Kisame popped up from the couch.

"Damn, about time we had something hell to do!" Kisame said, complaining from the lack of action in the past weeks. Even Itachi was getting a little bored, which was saying a lot. It was warranted though; the two hadn't had an exciting mission or moment for that matter since they fought Jiraiya.

"So, have any idea of what Leader-sama wants us to do?" Kisame asked Konan. She just shook her head.

"He didn't say anything to me. He just told me to get you two so he must have a personal mission for you."

"Oh." Kisame shrugged. He and Itachi followed Konan to Pein's office. As they walked in, Pein was staring at them with his usual serious look on his face.

"You wanted to see us Leader-sama?" Itachi said in his monotone voice.

"Yes, I have a very important mission for you and Kisame. It's of the utmost importance so listen carefully." Pein said.

Itachi and Kisame glanced at each other for a second. This mission must be big, if he said "_of the utmost importance"_. The only other goal that they thought was that important was captured the tailed demons and that wasn't going to happen for a few years. Nonetheless, they stood at attention, listening intently.

"As you two know, we plan to collect the Biju in about two years." Pein began. The pair nodded. "Well, something crossed my mind the other day. As unlikely as it seems, it's very well possible we may lose some members in the process of capturing the tailed beasts." Pein said. Itachi and Kisame nodded again, remembering their very close encounter with the Toad Sage.

Now Konan was interested in what Pein had in store for Itachi and Kisame._ "For as long as I've known him, I always knew Pein always had a soft spot for his friends."_ She thought, remembering their days with him, her and Yahiko. _"But ever since we were with Akatsuki, I've never saw him show any real concern for the other members. For him to say this now, he must've been thinking about this for some time now..."_

Pein continued. "As I thought about this, I realized that it would very difficult to find shinobi with the same level of skill as you two and everybody else. Also, the leaf village is getting stronger and their alliance with the sand doesn't make things easier. Plus, Orochimaru has taken Sasuke as his student so I suspect he's trying to build power as well. Those things don't make things any easier for us."

Itachi and Kisame were slightly surprised that their Leader would say something like this now, though their faces didn't show it. Although they both saw the reason for his concern, did he really think that they were just going to die that easily? I mean, they way he said it, Pein made it seem like everybody is going to die while getting the tailed beasts. However, Kisame decided to make his thoughts known...

"Leader-sama, do you really think that any of us is going to go down that easily to some stupid leaf and sand nins or that traitous snake bastard and his personal fuck toy?" Konan held back a laugh and Itachi just smirked from the way Kisame referred to Itachi's younger sibling.

Pein smiled slightly. "Honestly, I don't expect any you to die any time soon. You are some of the strongest shinobi in the land and I don't believe nor do I want any of you to lose to our enemies. Still, I'm just planning for the prospect that if I do in fact lose somebody, I will have somebody more than capable to fill that's person spot. I do not want to suffer any setbacks or slow down just because we lose one of our members. That's why I have this mission for you two."

"So, what is it?" Kisame said, getting impatient.

Pein smirked for a second, and then his face turned dead serious.

"I want you two... to find subordinates." He stated.

Subordinates?" Kisame asked, slightly confused

"Yes, subordinates. I want you two to find two new recruits for Akatsuki. I want them to be powerful but young so that they can be trained and molded in our image." Pein answered.

Itachi and Kisame glanced at each other for a second. While they couldn't disagree with the reason for their leaders plan, there were a few questions that nagged the both of them in the back of their minds.

"While I can't argue with the logic of your plan Leader-sama, why do you want to do something like this now?" Itachi asked.

"And more importantly, why did you pick us to do this mission?" Kisame said.

"Well, to answer your question Itachi, it's like I said before. I'm only doing this in the event that I lose one or more of my members. I don't want to suffer any kind of setbacks in our plan for world domination just because of causalities. If anything, my plan attests to your and the other members' value to the organization." Pein explained.

"And to answer your question Kisame, you two are the only ones I feel that's capable of doing this mission for two reasons. One is because you two are more level-headed and "normal" than some of the other members and will be better suited to teach and train young shinobi than someone like Hidan or Sasori. The second reason ties in with the first. The new recruits will need to learn teamwork with their partner and honestly, you two are the only pair that actually gets along with each other, sad as it is.

Every reason for accepting this mission made sense to Itachi and Kisame the way leader put it. Kisame seemed to be pondering something while some apprehension still surfaced in Itachi, although he didn't show it, being the emotionless doorknob he is.

"So do you, Itachi and Kisame, accept this mission? It will be a huge contribution to Akatsuki in the future. I know it doesn't sound too exciting to train young shinobi but there is personal gain in this, I assure you. You have a chance to train and mold two young minds in not only Akatsuki's image, but your owns as well and pass down techniques and secrets to your charges to help carry on your legacies." Pein added.

This little speech caught Itachi's attention. _"I don't really care about my own legacy but I still want the Uchiha name to live on. Sasuke is seems determined to rebuild the clan but I'm not completely sure if he can rebuild as strong as I want it to be at his current level. I guess it would be good to mold someone in my image so if Sasuke fails, I have someone I can rely on. Maybe I can even…" _Itachi thoughts trailed off as Kisame spoke up.

"We accept the mission Leader. Now I have a question for you Leader, exactly how young do you want these new recruits to be?" Kisame asked, a plan already forming in his head.

"I don't want them to be too young. I would prefer they be around the same age as the Kyuubi container." Pein said.

"Which will make them around 13 years old" Itachi interjected.

"Right, give or take a year or so. I think that is the perfect age because they would've have already developed some basic survival skills but they are still young enough to be molded." Pein said.

"_Perfect" _Kisame thought. "Leader, I already have the perfect kid in mind." Kisame said confidently.

"_Kisame thinking ahead? Wow, this is a big day in history. Next thing I know, Orochimaru is going to go straight. Humph, like that will happen. Let's see what Kisame got in mind." _Itachi thought sarcastically. For as long as Itachi was partnered with Kisame, he never thought things ahead. He was all about the here and now, so this was surprise to Itachi.

"Oh? Tell me about him." Pein said, quite interested in what young ninja Kisame is so confident in.

"The kid's name is Kaito Hayashi. I think he's around 14 now. Before I left the Hidden Mist Village, I used to train him and look after him. I fought with his parents and I knew the family quite well. After his parents were executed for treason, I looked after the kid until I left the village." Kisame said.

"Treason?" Konan asked.

"Yeah. The mizukage was paranoid and began to execute shinobi he felt were plotting to overthrow him. Funny he didn't catch me right? Well, Kaito's parents were two of those shinobi that got executed. After that, I pretty much took care of the kid as I was his unofficial godfather in way." Kisame explained.

"Anyway, his parents were very skilled and the kid is no different. The village considered him a genius and the next coming of Raiga Kurosuki. However, I think the kid will far surpass Raiga and myself and will become a very powerful shinobi. Kaito not only possesses the physical skills but he possesses an even greater mind. He also has a silver tongue and he is very good at persuading and manipulating people at his young age."

"However, he has one glaring weakness, his emotions. The kid is very level-headed most of the time and doesn't really let pressure get to him. Sometimes he even smiled at me at times when he was on the verge of death during a few training sessions. But if someone insults or hurts people he cares about, he loses his temper and that can affect his effectiveness. That's something I will work on. Still, Kaito is very loyal to me and to other people who take care of him. After he finds out that I work for you, I'm sure he will swear allegiance to you, Leader." Kisame finished.

Pein let all this sink in for a moment. "Well, I'm impressed with this Kaito kid you told me about Kisame. If he's everything you say he is, he would become invaluable to this organization. Do you know where Kaito is?" Pein said.

"Yes, I know exactly where he lives and he'll come with me the moment I get there." Kisame replied.

"Good. Itachi, do you have anybody already in mind?" Pein asked

Itachi was impressed that Kisame already had a recruit ready before the mission even started. Still Itachi, being a Uchiha, didn't want to be outdone by his blue-skinned partner and someone popped in his mind as Kisame was telling the leader about Kaito.

"As a matter of fact I do." Itachi said rather smugly. "I don't know everything about her but I do know her name is Shizuma Himura. She looked around 14 to 15 years old. I came across her one day while doing espionage outside of the sound village. I saw two sound shinobi attempt to sexually assault her and needless to say, she killed them in a most brutal fashion."

"How exactly did she kill these two shinobi?" Pein asked, his interest now piqued.

"I don't know exactly what she did, but I all remember is seeing a very intense chakra surround her and she dismembered the men with a few slashes of her sword. The chakra felt very hot, almost as if it was burning and it swirled very violently around her. The most interesting thing about it was, when that chakra appeared, her eyes turned from black to yellow. I suspect it's some kind kekkei genkai." Itachi said.

"_A kekkei genkai with yellow eyes and a swirling, burning chakra? I wonder…" _Pein thought. "Itachi, did you see what headband the girl was wearing?" Pein asked.

"It was black with a symbol that looked like a flame. She had a slash through it so I assume she's a missing-nin. I'm not sure what village that represents." Itachi replied.

"As I thought…" Pein muttered. "The girl you spoke of Itachi, Shizuma, I want you two to pursue her as soon as you get Kaito. It is essential that you recruit her." Pein said

"Ok, but why the sudden interest in her?" Kisame asked.

"Well, I just figured out from Itachi's description that the girl has a very powerful bloodline. I don't know the true name of the bloodline, but it was nicknamed tempest." Pein explained.

"Storm? Why would a bloodline be called that?" Kisame asked.

"Well, it grants the user a natural affinity to fire and wind elements and also makes it possible to mix them together, explaining the swirling, burning chakra Itachi felt. Also, it boosts the user's speed, strength, and instincts considerably. However, there are two side effects of the bloodline. One is that it unlocks a very savage bloodlust within the person that comes with use of the bloodline abilities and the bloodlust would not go away until their enemies or they themselves were dead. Often times, the bloodlust would be triggered by emotions or under severe mental distress, which can also explain why it appeared on the girl. The true masters of the bloodline could control this bloodlust when need be and use abilities when they had to."

"The other side effect is that it is very hard to control. In the past, many clan members who possessed the bloodline often destroyed themselves in attempt to fully control it. There were only a few throughout the history of the clan who could fully master it. Because of the violent and destructive nature of the fire and wind elements, the kekkei genkai often did as much damage to the user as to their enemies. The five major villages teamed up to wipe out the clan some years ago because of its massive destructive power so I assumed the clan didn't exist anymore but, apparently someone survived…" Pein said.

"So basically, we have a 14 year old girl running around with a powerful kekkei genkai she can barely control and you want us to persuade her to come with us." Kisame said sarcastically.

"Right. You two have your targets. I would advise to get Kaito first since we know where he is and assured he will come with us. I want you two to do this as fast as possible. Once you get both them, return here and I will give you further directions. Any other questions?" Itachi and Kisame shook their heads. "Good. You two are dismissed." Pein stated.

"Hai." Itachi and Kisame said before leaving his office.

* * *

The two gathered their supplies before setting out to the Wave country so they can take a boat to Kiri. It would take about a day traveling at full speed without stopping to reach Wave from the Akatsuki hideout in Ame. 

Itachi and Kisame left Ame and began to travel as fast as possible to Wave without stopping. They figured they could rest on the boat to Kiri. They wanted to hurry up and get Kaito so they could spend more time searching for Shizuma, as they didn't know where she was.

The two flew through the fire country, tree hopping at incredible speeds, not even stopping once to eat or rest. As the sun went down and rose back up again, they reached the Wave. Akatsuki still had some connections in Wave; therefore, they spoke with their contact and got a boat to Kiri for no charge.

The two set sail for Kiri. Itachi and Kisame ate and rested up the whole trip, doing neither for over a day. The boat ported in Water country several hours later, but there was still one matter to be discussed…

"Kisame, we're not the most popular people in Kiri, especially you. How strong are Kiri's defenses? Is it possible to sneak in the village without much trouble or is fighting going to be unavoidable." Itachi asked. He wanted to avoid as much fighting as possible here, even more so since they are isolated on an island.

"I think sneaking in will be pretty easy, Kiri never had the greatest perimeter defenses. However, it will be a little more difficult getting out; especially if they find out we're taking one of their shinobi with us. ANBU constantly prowl the village, even at night. I say, the faster we do this, the better, although I wouldn't mind fighting a couple of my old comrades…" Kisame said with a smirk.

"You forget the fact that we would never make off the island if you decide to have fun with your comrades." Itachi said.

"Meh, you're no fun Itachi." Kisame said.

"But that's what saves your ass sometimes." The elder uchiha retorted.

"Good point." The shark-skinned swordsman replied with a smile.

With that little matter settled, the two set out to the Hidden Mist Village.

* * *

That chapter felt more complete than the original one. The next chapter will introduce Kaito Hayashi and cover his escape from Kiri. It's already in progress. 

Til' next time!


	2. Kaito Hayashi

Here's chapter 2. I originally planned to have this chapter and the upcoming one as one chapter but it started to get too long for my tastes so I divided it up. This chapter basically introduces Kaito and his teammates who will play a huge part later on in the story. Enjoy!

* * *

**Kaito Hayashi**

Meanwhile in the Hidden Mist Village…

A young shinobi, around 14 years old, is practicing with his dao sword in the middle of an empty training ground. He's wearing a tight black long-sleeved mesh shirt, black baggy cargo pants, black gloves, and black boots with his black forehead protector cloth worn bandana-style, bearing the symbol of the Hidden Mist Village. He has shoulder length black hair, dark brown eyes, and lightly tanned skin.

It was still only around noon and he decided to get in some quick weapon training with his family's prized dao sword, the Black Panther. It is named as such because of its appearance. The blade is a night black color with a dark grey hilt. However, if you look closely, you can see faint but distinct markings running down the blade. It was passed down from his mother, who received from her father. It is known throughout for its great cutting power despite its lightness. Although it's much smaller compared to gigantic blades like Zabuza's Head Cleaving Sword or Kisame's Samehada, it is still slightly larger than normal swords; therefore, it requires a lot of practice to master it. Kaito's mother also told her son that the sword has magical properties that associate with the markings on the blade. Unfortunely, but she never told him the full scale of those abilities before she passed away.

However, the Black Panther is not even his main weapon of choice. Kaito only uses it in major battles, when he has to face off against a large number of enemies that have swords, etc. Kaito's favorite weapon is his custom made steel claws, the Jaguar's Fangs, as named by Kaito. The blades reside inside of special brown gauntlets and when Kaito needs them, he focuses some chakra in his hands and the blades come out. The blades are white, long and curved and two come out on the top side of the wrist and two come out on the bottom side of the wrist, resembling fangs inside of a jaguar's mouth. Kaito had the blades augmented so that if focuses even more chakra into the blades, he can make them harder and sharper. Because Kaito is excellent in taijutsu, the claws enhance his effectiveness and give him an advantage when he resorts to taijutsu against his enemies. The fangs are also perfect for stealth kills and assassinations, in which Kaito specializes in.

Kaito loves practicing in this particular training ground for two reasons. One, the only people who really used it was him and his team and two; he has an emotional attachment to this place for this is the place where he first met his idol and sensei, Kisame Hoshigaki…

_Flashback_

_A young boy at the age of five is intensely practicing taijutsu in an empty training ground. _

_He is trying to forget the pain of losing his parents who, along with many other village shinobi, were executed a couple days ago by the Mizukage under "suspicions of treason against the village" as the Mizukage says. _

_The boy, trying to repress the horrible memories of his parents being taken away by the ANBU and later hearing the news he had officially became an orphan, furiously punches and kicks a wooden training dummy, his hands bloodied from constant hours of punching the dummy with all his might without stopping once to rest. But fatigue and pain of the memories began to take its toll on the young boy, causing him to break down and cry. _

_However, after a few minutes of crying, he realizes something…_

"_I can't sit here and cry for the rest of my life. I would disappoint Mom and Dad if I ended up becoming a weak ninja like the Mizukage. I must be strong! I must be strong for my village, so I can become Mizukage and make this village a better, stronger village. I must be strong for Mom and Dad so they can be proud of me!" The boy proclaimed to himself. _

_With this newfound confidence, he continued to train on the wooden dummy, no longer weakened by the memory of his parents, but strengthened by it._

_Meanwhile, a dark, hulking figure is watching from the nearby trees._

"_So, that must be Kaito. I haven't seen him since he was born. Man, he's grown a lot. He's definitely Katsuo and Yuzuki's kid." The figure said. He jumped from the trees and decided to introduce himself to his old friends' child._

_Kaito continued to train until he heard a soft rustling noise from the nearby trees. He looked to see what it was and saw a rather large man walking towards him. He had blue skin with shark-like gills and eyes and rather gravity defying haircut. He was wearing traditional Mist jounin equipment with a very large sword wrapped in bandages strapped to his back. Although Kaito never seen this man before, he had a good idea who he was as his father told him about this man before._

"_Are you Mr. Kisame Hoshigaki?" Kaito asked, double checking to see who this was._

"_Why yes I am. I'm surprised you know who I am kid." Kisame answered, surprised Kaito knew who he was._

"_My dad talked a lot about you. Were you friends of my dad?" Kaito asked._

"_Yea. Me, your father, and your mother fought together in a lot of missions. So you can say I was good friends of them. Besides, last time I saw you, you were small enough to fit in my hand." Kisame replied._

"_Wow. So why are you here?" Kaito asked once again._

"_Well, your father asked a while ago that if anything were to ever happen to them that I would look after you. After your parents passed away a couple days ago, I started to look for you but I couldn't find you until now. I must say, you're awfully stealthy for a kid your age." Kisame said with a smirk._

"_Sorry about that. I didn't really feel like seeing or talking to anybody. My parents…" Kaito said somberly, looking down at the ground._

_Kisame saw the look on Kaito's face, although a small part of him felt remorse for the kid, he had to bring Kaito to reality._

"_Look Kaito, I'm really sorry for your parents. What happened to them shouldn't happen to them or any of the other ninja for that matter." Kisame said, trying to make Kaito feel a little better. _

"_But you have to realize, death is a common part of a ninja's life. As hard as it may be, you have to learn to cope with the losses and move on and become stronger. If you don't, you'll end up a weak or dead ninja." Kisame said rather harshly._

_Kisame expected Kaito to lash out at him. Although Kisame really didn't want to say something like that to Kaito at such a young age, he'll have to realize it sooner or later and Kisame felt it would be better if he knew sooner._

_However, Kaito didn't lash out at Kisame or anything like that. He simply looked Kisame in the eyes and said:_

"_I know that. I know death is part of a ninja's life. Dad told me that many times before. However, it took me until losing mom and dad to actually accept it. I know now that I can't just cry over them for the rest of my life. I have to become strong not only for them, but for the whole village. I have to be strong so I can take over the village from our weak leader and make it better than it ever was!" Kaito proclaimed._

"_This kid, he's just like his father. Both have a maturity beyond their years. And better yet, he hates the Mizukage and wishes to take over the village. This can work out quite nicely…" Kisame thought, impressed that a kid his age can show such maturity._

"_I see. Your dad taught you well, Kaito. When do you plan on starting the academy?" Kisame asked, thinking of something._

"_Well, I was going to start next year, when I turn 6." The young boy said._

"_Ok. How about I train you for a little while?" Kisame asked._

_Kaito's eyes grew to about the size of dinner plates. "Really? You would help me train Mr. Kisame?" the boy asked, ecstatic he could get training from one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist._

"_Yea sure. The stuff I'll teach you, you'll learn techniques that no genin would know at your age. Besides, I want to help you get stronger like you said." Kisame said, inwardly smiling at the plan he was forming._

"_Cool! When can we start?" Kaito asked eager to get started on his advanced training._

"_I'm a little hungry. Why don't we get something to eat first and we can start training ok?" Kisame said. The boy laughed. _

"_Ok Kisame-sensei." Kaito said as the two walked off. Kaito smiled; happy he had a new sensei and someone he could rely on._

_Flashback End_

Kaito smiled to himself as replayed the memory through his head. To this day, he hasn't forgotten a thing Kisame taught to him. Kisame taught him many techniques in various ninja arts and how to use a sword. He also helped Kaito to become tougher. Kaito remembered the countless times he was near death while training with Kisame. He was tough on Kaito but it helped him become stronger.

Kaito was broken out of his thoughts when he heard a familiar voice call his name.

"Hey Kaito!" A rather deep voice called out.

Kaito looked back to see his two teammates and his best friends, Daichi Motou and Miyu Yukimura.

"Hey Daichi." Kaito said to his best friend.

Daichi has short brown hair and green eyes. He is very tall for his age, nearly Zabuza's height and only 14 years old. He is also very muscular, due to the fact that he practically lifts weights every day. He's wearing a Mist chunnin vest with a navy short sleeve shirt underneath it. His vest is modified to have extra pockets to hold various antidotes and other medical supplies, being he's a rising medic-nin. He also has on dark blue pants, blue sandals, and navy gloves. Because of all this, he gives off a rather intimidating appearance.

However, despite his looks, he's the most cerebral of the group. Back in the academy, Kaito always used to tease him by calling him a bookworm because Daichi used to live in the books. Now Daichi even wears glasses, earning him the title of the strongest nerd ever, as coined by Kaito.

Ever since they met at the academy 8 years ago, Kaito and Daichi have been the best of friends though. Kaito even sees Daichi as the brother he never had, which extends to sibling rivalry as well. Because the two are rather cerebral, Kaito and Daichi often annoy each other most times, in which Kaito usually starts it. Still, the two are undeniably loyal to each other. Kaito even said to Daichi once that he would risk his life to protect Daichi if it ever came to that.

"Hey Kaito, getting some practice in with the panther I see?" Daichi said.

"Yea. Been out here since this morning. Hey Miyu-chan." Kaito said with a smirk.

"_Kaito-kun looks so cute with that little smirk of his. Plus he's wearing that mesh shirt I love and he's sweaty from training? He's so damn sexy! Kami, if had some alone time with him in a dark room, the things I would do…_

"_Wait, what I'm thinking? I'm too young to be thinking things like that!" _Miyu thought.

"Hello, Kaito-kun." she said, blushing slightly which didn't go unnoticed by Daichi.

Miyu and Kaito have known each other for as long as Kaito knew Daichi. (They all met each other on their first day at the academy 8 years ago.) When she was young, she had a reputation among the instructors as having great talent but a fragile body and mind. Many thought she would never make it as a ninja, especially in a village as tough as the Mist. However, with hard work and Kaito and Daichi's support, she passed in two years, along with Daichi and Kaito.

She's has a slim, athletic build but a "very nice bust size", as once quoted by a fellow shinobi classmate. That earned him a nice beat down from Kaito and Daichi. She has hazel eyes and long silver hair, which is the subject of envy from other women in the village. She's wearing a grey tank top with a tight long-sleeve black shirt over it, similar to an Anbu's armor and black fingerless gloves. She's has on tight black training shorts that stop around mid-thigh with black sandals.

She has a huge crush on Kaito, bordering on the edge of obsession and which Daichi already knows of. Miyu and Daichi both think Kaito doesn't know about it but he actually does but not to the extent he thinks. Kaito thinks she just has a little crush on him and flirts with her sometimes just to mess with her. She fell for him during their academy days together and her love and admiration for him has only grown since then, helped by the fact she is on the same team with him.

Although she's shook off the image of having a fragile body, she still hasn't got rid of her other weakness, her sometimes fragile psyche. Her mother died in childbirth so she lived with only her father for the early part of her life. But her father was executed by Mizukage along with other shinobi for "suspected acts of treason" (when Kaito also lost his parents). This deeply scarred Miyu and she went to live with her aunt, who loved her very much and took great care of her. Just when things started to look up for Miyu, tragedy struck again. On Miyu's first B-rank mission, her and her aunt was supposed to simply transport a scroll to Kumo, requesting for an alliance between Kiri and Kumo. However, upon arriving in the Lightening country, Miyu and her aunt were ambushed by Cloud-nin and her aunt was killed in front of Miyu. Miyu managed to barely escape but this latest tragedy nearly drove her to the point of suicide, due to the fact that she thought it was her fault for her aunt's death. Although Kaito and Daichi managed to console her and persuade her it wasn't her fault, (Kaito blamed the village for sending her and her aunt on a mission that was practically suicide, as the Cloud village recently double-crossed the Leaf village on an alliance between the two) Miyu is still haunted by that mission to this day and sometimes breaks down emotionally if reminded of that mission…

"So what brings you two here?" Kaito asked while taking a few more swipes with his sword.

"Well, we were looking for you. Sensei has given us the day off. So-"Daichi began to explain before getting cut off.

"That's it? I already knew that." Kaito said, blowing off the news. A sweatdrop appeared on Daichi's head.

"I wasn't finished. I was about to say, before you interrupted me, that do you want to go each lunch and hang out with us?" Daichi finished.

"Oh yea sure. Why didn't you just say so?" Kaito said casually and walked back over to tree where the rest of his equipment was.

Daichi just sighed and pushed up his glasses while Miyu giggled at Kaito's blatant attempt to piss Daichi off. Kaito put on his black trench coat, sheathed his sword, strapped it to his back, and walked back over to his friends.

"So Daichi, my good friend, where are you treating us to?" Kaito asked, slapping his friend on the back.

Daichi nearly fell over. "Who said I was treating? Besides you're richer than before us Kaito. If anything, you should be treating us." he said quickly.

"True, true. BUT, it was your idea to go out to eat so it's only right you treat us." Kaito retorted.

"It wasn't my idea, it was Miyu's idea to go out and eat." Daichi said, pointing at her. A tick mark appeared on her forehead.

"What the hell do you mean it was my idea?! Don't put that shit on me! It was clearly your idea Daichi, admit it!" Miyu yelled, furious that Daichi would try to get her to pay the bill.

"It was not! You said "Oh I'm hungry. Let's go get Kaito and get something to eat."" Daichi imitated, complete with mocking voice.

"What!? Don't even fucking try it!" she shot back.

Kaito just sighed at the two bickering back and forth. Although he was used to this after 8 years of knowing each other, it still annoyed the hell out of him. After a few minutes of this, Kaito had enough.

"Ok! Since you two can't come to an agreement, I'll just treat all of us. How about that?" He said in a rather diplomatic manner. Miyu and Daichi just nodded.

"I must say though Miyu-chan, I never knew you had such a potty mouth." Kaito said smirking at her, which caused her to blush. In reality, he knew this already. The thing is that Miyu only really cusses when she's mad, which is usually after Daichi pisses her off in some way. Otherwise, she's very soft spoken and polite.

"So Kaito, where are we eating?" Daichi asked curiously.

"Our favorite sushi place!" Kaito said cheerfully. He really loved sushi. "Race ya!" he said, before darting off.

"Kaito-kun, wait up!" Miyu said before taking off after him.

Daichi just sighed, not bothering to race his two teammates, as he knew he was no near as fast as them. _"I swear, Kaito may be 14 but he still acts like he's 7. I guess he'll never change…" _he thought before catching up to his teammates.

A few minutes later, the three reached their favorite place to eat, Kawaguchi's. Ever since he was kid, Kaito always ate here whenever he wanted sushi. Plus, he was good friends with the owner so he often got discounts, which also played in his decision to eat here.

"Oh hello Kaito, Miyu, Daichi. Back already?" A man in his early 50's said, surprised to see them so soon as he just served them yesterday.

"Hey old man. I decided to treat my dear old friends to lunch today, just because I'm a nice guy. So I decided to come to my favorite place to eat. " Kaito said in rather false voice. Daichi sweatdropped at this.

"_Just because you're nice guy? You tried to get me to pay the damn bill. You got a lot of shit with you Kaito." _Daichi thought.

The old chef laughed. "As is always the case Kaito. So, what are you guys having today?"

--

After some orders of sushi and a nice sized bill later, the three went to relax at their favorite spot in the village, a hill that overlooks the whole village. Kaito and Miyu were sitting on the grass next to each other, looking out over the horizon where the sun was just starting to set. Daichi was sitting against a nearby tree, engrossed in a little orange book. (Yes that book.)

"Kaito-kun, isn't the sunset beautiful?" Miyu said almost dreamily.

Kaito just smiled gently. "Yeah, it is kind of nice today." He glanced over at his female partner who just happened to be looking at him. The two stared at each for a moment before Kaito smirked which caused Miyu to blush and quickly look away. At this moment, something just occurred to Kaito.

"Hey Daichi, why don't you come over here? You seem all lonely by yourself." Kaito invited, halfway looking back in Daichi's direction.

"Nah I'm fine. You two lovebirds enjoy yourselves." Daichi commented without even looking up from his book.

"_Always the smartass." _Kaito thought, shaking his head.

"Aww come on Daichi. What's book is so interesting that it's got you being anti-social?" Miyu teased, shaking off Daichi's "lovebirds" comment.

"Yeah. What book are you reading that is so damn interesting?" Kaito asked. He turned all the way around to see the title of the book his friend was engrossed in. It read:

_Icha Icha Paradise._

A look of confusion and disbelief appeared on Kaito's face. He turned back around and seemed to be in deep thought…

"_Isn't that an adult novel? Daichi is no adult, although he looks like it. Still, they wouldn't sell that to a minor would they..." _Kaito thought, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Daichi, how in the nine levels of hell did you get your hands on that book?" Kaito asked scratching his head.

"A shinobi never reveals his secrets." Daichi answered in an Itachi-like monotone voice.

"Kaito-kun, what book are you talking about?" Miyu asked, wondering what got him in such a fuss.

He motioned for her to come closer. Miyu edged over and Kaito whispered the title of the book in her ear. A look of shock came over her face as she heard the name and she whipped around to see the book for her own eyes.

"Daichi, you actually read that perverted trash?" Miyu said, jumping to her feet.

"Hey hey hey, its not trash! The Icha Icha novels are a perfectly written blend of action, humor, suspense, and romance with memorable characters and an excellent plot." Daichi quickly defended.

Miyu gave him a "you must be fucking kidding me" look. "Daichi, all that book is random sex scenes with a loosely written plot thrown in there." She shot back.

"Miyu-chan is right. It's just poorly written smut." Kaito agreed, standing up and brushing himself off. "Besides, the _real_ thing is way better."

On this, Daichi shut the book. "Oh? And what would you know about the real thing Kaito?"

"A shinobi never reveals his secrets, right Miyu-chan?" Kaito said, giving Miyu a suggestive wink. This caused her to turn a brilliant shade of scarlet.

Daichi saw all of this and just smiled. "I swear you two…" Daichi said, getting up from his spot on the tree.

All of a sudden there was a rustle from a nearby bush in the forest behind them. Immediately, Daichi brandished a kunai and Miyu took out two sais from her waist while Kaito quickly put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Daichi, Miyu-chan, stay behind me." Kaito said softly. The two nodded and take a few steps behind Kaito while he stepped up closer to the forest.

"Show yourself!" Kaito demanded in direction of where the rustling came from.

A figure wearing a dark cloak with red clouds began to walk out of the forest. Because it was getting dark, the three didn't see the person's face right away. However, as the fading sunlight began to shine more on the figure's face, the team soon realized who this person was.

"_Wait, those eyes… Those are sharigan if I'm not mistaken. That only means…" _Kaito thought. As soon as he realized it, in the blink of an eye, he unsheathed his sword. Miyu and Daichi also seemed to realize it as well, as their grips on their weapons tightened.

"Itachi Uchiha, you mind telling me why you're here?" Kaito demanded with a dead serious look on his face.

"_He must be Kaito. I'll admit, I'm impressed by how fast he figured out who I was and his as well as his teammate's awareness." _Itachi thought.

"You can ease the grips on your weapons; I have no quarrel with you three." Itachi said emotionless.

"You still didn't answer my fucking question. Why are you way out here in Mist?" Kaito repeated, his sword pointing at Itachi. He knew he didn't stand a chance against Itachi, with Itachi being an S-rank criminal and all. Still, running scared never helped anybody and Kaito surely wasn't running now.

"We came all the way out here to talk to you Kaito-san." Itachi replied unfazed.

"_What would he want with Kaito? Better yet, how would he even know his name and that he's here? Something's not right…" _Daichi thought, his eyes narrowing dangerously at Itachi.

A look of worry came over Miyu's face. _"Why would he come all the way out here just to see Kaito-kun? Are they after him or something? But that doesn't make any sense. Why would he… Kaito-kun, be careful." _Miyu thought, her hands unconsciously tightening around her sais.

"_Talk to me? Yea right. There's got to be some other reason why Itachi would be out here. Wait a second, Itachi said "we"." _Kaito thought.

"Who else is with you, Uchiha?" Kaito growled.

A different voice from the forest answered his question.

"Now Kaito, would you attack your old sensei?"

Kaito froze, he recognized that voice anywhere. His mind though still didn't believe it.

"Sensei…?" Kaito muttered in shock.

A tall man wearing a cloak that matched Itachi's emerged from the forest. As the light shone upon his pale blue skin, Kaito, Miyu, and Daichi all stared in shock.

"It's been a while huh Kaito? Almost 6 years right?" Kisame smirked, bearing his sharp teeth.

* * *

Well, there you have it. Not very exciting I know but it's mainly to set up the plot. The next chapter will have more action I promise! It should be up within the week.

Peace out!


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